Rural Health - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSexuality education delivery in Australian regional secondary schools: A qualitative case study(SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD, 2017-06)Background: Factors affecting the delivery of sexuality education to school students include government policy, school leadership and teacher confidence. Objective: The aim of this paper was to understand, from the perspective of regional education, health and welfare sector professionals, what is needed to support good sexual health for secondary school students. Methods: A qualitative study that took place in ‘Fairview’, a regional location in Victoria, Australia. Five focus groups, totalling 37 participants, were conducted in 2015. An inductive analysis was used to identify key themes. Findings: The main theme was the inconsistent presence and delivery of sexuality education curriculum in Fairview schools. This was attributed to factors such as perceived lack of commitment at government level to sexuality education, lack of importance in comparison with other subjects and variation in inclusion across year levels. Teachers and the delivery of sexuality education and the role of school leadership in supporting sexuality education were the two sub-themes present within the broader narrative. Teacher capacity to deliver sexuality education was ascribed to lack of training. Perceptions concerning the use of external providers to deliver sexuality education differed, as did opinions about the role of school leadership in supporting sexuality education. Conclusion: Sexuality education in schools could be improved through clearer government policy direction. This would signal the importance of sexuality education to school leaders and, if supported via resources such as training for teachers, could assist in achieving the aim of improving students’ sexual health and well-being.
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ItemA scoping review of Australian allied health research in ehealth(BioMed Central, 2016-10-04)Background: Uptake of e-health, the use of information communication technologies (ICT) for health service delivery, in allied health appears to be lagging behind other health care areas, despite offering the potential to address problems with service access by rural and remote Australians. The aim of the study was to conduct a scoping review of studies into the application of or attitudes towards ehealth amongst allied health professionals conducted in Australia. Methods: Studies meeting inclusion criteria published from January 2004 to June 2015 were reviewed. Professions included were audiology, dietetics, exercise physiology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry, social work, and speech pathology. Terms for these professions and forms of ehealth were combined in databases of CINAHL (EBSCO), Cochrane Library, PsycINFO (1806 – Ovid), MEDLINE (Ovid) and AMED (Ovid). Results: Forty-four studies meeting inclusion criteria were summarised. They were either trials of aspects of ehealth service delivery, or clinician and/or client use of and attitudes towards ehealth. Trials of ehealth were largely from two research groups located at the Universities of Sydney and Queensland; most involved speech pathology and physiotherapy. Assessments through ehealth and intervention outcomes through ehealth were comparable with face-to-face delivery. Clinicians used ICT mostly for managing their work and for professional development, but were reticent about its use in service delivery, which contrasted with the more positive attitudes and experiences of clients. Conclusion: The potential of ehealth to address allied health needs of Australians living in rural and remote Australia appears unrealised. Clinicians may need to embrace ehealth as a means to radicalise practice, rather than replicate existing practices through a different mode of delivery.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableDeveloping sustainable social programmes for rural ethnic seniors: perspectives of community stakeholders(WILEY, 2017-05)This qualitative study explores barriers to delivering sustainable rural community programmes to increase social participation among Australian ethnic seniors. In 2013, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 stakeholders across eight rural/regional organisations that had received state government funding to provide social participation initiatives for ethnic seniors. Within interviews, participants were asked to outline factors that had enhanced or hindered their capacity to deliver the funded projects, and their plans for sustainability. Data were analysed thematically in accordance with Shediac-Rizkallah and Bone's (1998) tripartite programme sustainability framework (project design and implementation, organisational setting and broader community environment). Findings indicate that in the context of resource and staffing constraints and a lack of ethnic critical mass, programme sustainability reflected the increased capacity of rural ethnic seniors to integrate into existing community groups and maintain their own groups and activities. However, this is dependent on the ability of mainstream government, health and social care services to cater for diverse cultural needs and preferences, the ability of rural organisations to support ethnic seniors to manage their own cultural groups and activities, and the capacity of funding bodies, rural community and policy structures to maintain cultural sensitivity while compensating for the rural premium. In addition to identifying some key learnings for rural governments, health and community organisations, this research highlights the precarious nature of rural programme sustainability for ethnic seniors in the context of wider community, organisational and policy constraints.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableBuilding research capacity in a regional Australian health service: A management strategy analysis(Australian College of Health Service Executives, 2015)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableConsidering the implications of place-based approaches for improving rural community wellbeing: The value of a relational lens(Informa UK Limited, 2014-01-01)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableDesigns and methods used in published Australian health promotion evaluations 1992-2011(WILEY, 2015-06)OBJECTIVE: To describe the designs and methods used in published Australian health promotion evaluation articles between 1992 and 2011. METHODS: Using a content analysis approach, we reviewed 157 articles to analyse patterns and trends in designs and methods in Australian health promotion evaluation articles. The purpose was to provide empirical evidence about the types of designs and methods used. RESULTS: The most common type of evaluation conducted was impact evaluation. Quantitative designs were used exclusively in more than half of the articles analysed. Almost half the evaluations utilised only one data collection method. Surveys were the most common data collection method used. Few articles referred explicitly to an intended evaluation outcome or benefit and references to published evaluation models or frameworks were rare. CONCLUSION: This is the first time Australian-published health promotion evaluation articles have been empirically investigated in relation to designs and methods. There appears to be little change in the purposes, overall designs and methods of published evaluations since 1992. IMPLICATIONS: More methodologically transparent and sophisticated published evaluation articles might be instructional, and even motivational, for improving evaluation practice and result in better public health interventions and outcomes.